Cycle News Staff | September 11, 2023
Round seven of the 2023 Magna1 AMA National Enduro Series presented by Moose Racing met in Southern Ohio for the 49th Annual Little Raccoon National Enduro on September 10. Wellston, Ohio, has been dry most of the year, creating dusty conditions for the 70-mile enduro. But this didn’t seem to bother Steward Baylor Jr., who sealed the overall win in the last test.
Monster Energy Babbitts Racing Kawasaki rider Grant Baylor won the first two tests of the day, despite having a big crash in test two. His pace dropped off a bit in test three, allowing Coastal GasGas rider Ryder Lafferty to grab the test-three win. Lafferty also was able to put in the fastest time for the fifth test, ultimately giving him third overall. “I have been dealing with some sickness this year and feel like I am finally on the upward trend and getting back to where I was before,” said Lafferty. “It was some tight tests that we had today, and I felt good. It felt like home.”
Grant Baylor topped test four and was carrying the lead into the final test of the day. “It was kind of a bummer to lead all day and give it up on the last test of the day,” Grant said. “I had a branch across my goggles at the start of the last test and then biffed it and ended up in the dirt. Not a good way to start the last test. Just tried to cruise it out to finish the day. All in all, it was a good day with the points, and I have a chance to wrap up the championship at the next round in Indiana.”
Grant now holds a 37-point lead over second place Josh Toth and can mathematically wrap up the 2023 National Enduro Championship a round early.
Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/Tely Energy KTM rider Steward Baylor Jr. was consistent all day. It wasn’t until the final test that he got a win but it came at the right time. In typical Stew fashion, he threw down a heater to sneak past his competitors and take the overall win on the day.
“I was not the fastest guy until the last test, but I knew I had to make up 12 or 14 seconds on Grant in the last test,” said Steward. “I knew I was going into the last section down like that, and I’ve done that a lot of times. I have won a lot of my championships and races because of that last test. Everyone talks about in enduros that slower is faster, but when you got to make up time like that, there is no slower, it’s straight sending it. I knew if I went down, and he got me, at least I knew I was giving it everything I had.”
Toward the end of the last test, there were some technical ups and downs with some ledges, and Steward hit some of those flat-out and blind. “I sent some things at the end of that last one, and if I had seen them before, I probably wouldn’t have hit them as hard. That’s the cool thing about enduros, and I think in those, I got lucky.”
Steward won the day over Grant by just nine seconds. Lafferty was another 16 seconds back in third place. Rockstar Energy Factory Husqvarna rider Craig Delong was fourth overall. Red Bull Factory KTM rider Ben Kelley was fifth overall, and Enduro Engineering GasGas rider Josh Toth was sixth overall. AmPro Yamaha rider Ricky Russell was seventh overall and Rockstar Energy Factory Husqvarna rider Trevor Bollinger was eighth overall, all from the NE Pro1 class.
Ninth overall was the top-placing NE Pro2 rider, AmPro Yamaha’s Liam Draper. Draper has been battling GasGas rider Thorn Devlin throughout the season for the class championship. “It was a good day, I was a little worried how dusty it was going to be, but it was actually pretty good,” said Draper. “I felt good all day and was a little bummed to see I lost the last test by one second to not have the clean sweep on the day.”
Draper won the first five tests in the NE Pro2 class before getting edged out on the final test by Devlin, who finished fourth in the class for the day.
Returning to the NE Pro2 podium was Rocky Mountain ATV-MC Tely Energy KTM rider Nathaniel “Bubz” Tasha. Bubz said, “I felt like I was riding good at the beginning of the day, but my times were not that good. Then at the end of the day, I didn’t feel as good, but the times were good. Maybe I need to turn it back five percent or so to go faster.”
Tasha was second in the NE Pro2 class and 11th overall behind factory Beta rider Evan Smith from the NE Pro1 class in 10th overall.
Winning the Women’s Elite class was Enduro Engineering GasGas rider Mackenzie Tricker. Tricker won three of the five tests to win by just over one minute.
“I started off pretty good, I usually start off pretty slow, but today was good,” Tricker said. “I won a few tests until test four, where I had a pretty good crash and busted my lip, and I thought I threw it away.”
Still, she still was able to edge out Over and Out GasGas rider Rachel Gutish and GasGas rider Brooke Cosner. The top AA rider was GasGas rider Jhak Walker.
- Steward Baylor Jr (KTM)
- Grant Baylor (Kaw)
- Ryder Lafferty (GG)
- Craig Delong (Hus)
- Ben Kelley (KTM)
- Josh Toth (GG)
- Ricky Russell (Yam)
- Trevor Bollinger (Hus)
- Liam Draper (Yam)
- Evan Smith (Bet)